8-28-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):

JUST IN: Vergara ruling stands, judge rules in final review

JUST IN: Vergara ruling stands, judge rules in final review The judge in Vergara vs. California today released his final review of the case, affirming his preliminary decision in June, that five state statures governing teacher employment rules violate the California constitution by denying students access to a quality public education. In his final ruling, filed yesterday, Judge Rolf Treu, said,

by Michael Janofsky / 0min

LA Unified attempting to restore early childhood programs

LA Unified attempting to restore early childhood programs LA Unified is rebuilding early-childhood education programs that were nearly decimated throughout the bleak recession years, investing an additional $30 million through 2016-2017. In a 6-1 vote Tuesday, the school board agreed to create a pathway for returning funding for the district’s three to four-year-olds, to levels not seen since 2007

by Vanessa Romo / 31min 

McKenna has filed to seek LAUSD board seat again in 2015

McKenna has filed to seek LAUSD board seat again in 2015 George McKenna, Board Member representing District 1 While George McKenna remained relatively quiet at his first board meeting this week, he has spoken loudly one one issue: He intends to run again for the District 1 seat next year. Records show that he filed a Declaration of Intent To Solicit And Receive Contributions with the City Ethics C

27min 

Segregation remains high among American public schools

Segregation remains high among American public schools Via Metro Trends Blog | by Reed Jordan Fifty million children will start school this week as historic changes are under way in the U.S. public school system. As of 2011, 48 percent of all public school students were “poor” and this year, students of color will account for the majority of public school students for the first time in US history.

8min hide  //  save

LAUSD moving slowly on older school earthquake retrofits

LAUSD moving slowly on older school earthquake retrofits With last weekend’s 6.0 earthquake in Napa County as the latest reminder of the need for earthquake preparedness, LA Unified is progressing slowly in retrofitting school buildings deemed vulnerable. In accordance with a state law known as AB 300, the district in 2006 conducted a seismic evaluation and identified 667 buildings constructed bef

by Yana Gracile / 8min 

Morning Read: LAUSD audit finds computers missing in action

Morning Read: LAUSD audit finds computers missing in action LA schools’ audit finds computers stolen, missing, unaccounted for An audit of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s computer inventory reveals 230 devices worth nearly $200,000 have been stolen or are missing – and school officials can’t account for another 3,105 laptops, desktops and iPads. KPCC Emails prompt LA schools’ inspector

35min 

8-27-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): For LAUSD school board a new year, but old problemsFor LAUSD school board a new year, but old problems Alex Caputo-Pearl, President of UTLA It might be the new school year, but it was a series of old problems awaiting the LA Unified school board yesterday as it met long into the night with a full compleme

by mike simpson / 22h 

8-28-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online:

MORE Moves Towards the Center

"MORE is a communist organization," someone said to me yesterday. And this not a from red-baiting Unity slug, but from someone who has run on the ICE and the MORE slates. I was even shocked to see a reader of this blog tweet the same thoughts. Shame on her.Would I and James Eterno and Mike Schirtzer and Julie Cavanagh, independent thinkers, be in a group think organization?I have fought

by ed notes online / 17min 

ICE Meeting Friday - ICE and MORE - A Lesson for New Action

At the MORE meeting with New Action last October, we offered the ICE model to New Action as a way for their people to work within MORE for our common aims while keeping their caucus alive. They rejected that offer. ICE will be holding a rare meeting tomorrow. These meetings take place when people feel a need to talk to each other in a relaxed atmosphere where few decisions have to take place.ICE (

by ed notes online / 9min 

8-27-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online: Charter Angst: Democracy Prep Parent Ready to Pull Child After 5 DaysAll I see every morning and evening is this tall man dressed in bright clothing yelling at the parents every single day since school started... parent at Democracy PrepDP founder Seth Andrews - or Eva Moskowitz in dragOh the joy in this comment on another beloved crooked charter, especially with today's news (see

by mike simpson / 20h 

Charter Schools Don’t Need An Ad Campaign; They Need Regulation

Charter Schools Don’t Need An Ad Campaign; They Need Regulation:



Charter Schools Don’t Need An Ad Campaign; They Need Regulation

 This time of year, while classroom teachers and administrators in public schools are busy welcoming students back to a new school year and figuring out how they’re going to cope withdevastating financial constraints, advocates in the charter schools industry are propping up their image with an extensive new public relations campaign called “Truth About Charters.”

That contrast alone pretty much tells you everything you need to know about where we are in the nation’s parallel education narratives, in which a gritty documentary competes with what is essentially an advertising campaign for a shiny, new product.

There are good reasons for charter schools advocates to feel they need an ad campaign. Recent polling results from the annual PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Towards the Public Schools show that Americans generally have favorable opinions about charter schools but don’t really know very much about them.

That situation is eerily similar to what has befallen another education policy favored by influential private interests and federal and state authorities: the Common Core.

Last year’s PDK/Gallup survey found that the Common Core was pretty much a mystery to most Americans, although public support for national standards was high. However, as new standards rolled out, and people became more knowledgeable about them and all they entail, opinion gradually changed. According to this year’s survey, over 80 percent of Americans have heard about the Common Core – 47 percent indicating they have heard a great deal or a fair amount. And most Americans, 60 percent, now oppose them.

A similar evolution may be occurring with charter schools. Because only about 6 percent of school children are enrolled in charters, the vast majority of Americans have had virtually no actual experiences with these schools. But in communities where charters are more prevalent, public opinion is more starkly divided. In school systems such as Philadelphia, Bridgeport,Pittsburgh, and Chicago, where charter schools are major providers, parents and local officials have increasingly opposed charter takeovers of their neighborhood schools.

Probably even more concerning to charter school advocates is the news that the credit rating agency Standards & Poor’s recently downrated the nation’s charter sector to a “negative” outlook.

What are the concerns? Apparently while charter advocates have their version of “truth,” another version of the truth has been playing out in communities around the country.

“A Racket”

A recent article in the online news outlet The Progressive reported, “There’s been a flood of local news stories in recent months about FBI raids on charter schools all over the country. From Pittsburgh to Baton Rouge, from Hartford to Cincinnati to Albuquerque, FBI agents have been busting into schools, carting off documents, and making arrests leading to high-profile Charter Schools Don’t Need An Ad Campaign; They Need Regulation:

Two Takes: The Smartest Kids in the World:

Two Takes: The Smartest Kids in the World

by Gene Perry and John Thompson | August 28th, 2014 | Posted in Blog, Education | Comments (0)

Early next month, the education advocacy group Stand for Children Oklahoma is hosting a lunch with keynote speaker Amanda Ripley, a journalist and author of the recent non-fiction book, “The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way.” Ripley’s book looks at how the US education system compares to Finland, South Korea, and Poland — three countries where students excel on an international test of critical thinking skills. In this comparison, Oklahoma plays a prominent role.

Today on the blog, we present two takes on the book. The first essay, by Oklahoma Policy Institute’s Policy Director Gene Perry, discusses how Ripley’s findings show that Oklahoma may be getting the schools we really want. The second essay, by education writer and former teacher John Thompson, argues that Ripley’s book leaves out a deeper understanding of school reform in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma may be getting the schools we really want

Gene Perry is Policy Director of Oklahoma Policy Institute

Getting an accurate picture of a nation’s education system from the outside is no easy task. In her new book, “The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way”, Amanda Ripley describes the challenge “A stranger who parachutes into a faraway country ends up, as the Koreans would say, ‘licking the outside of a watermelon,’ unable to get beneath the surface into what matters.” To get a deeper perspective on these foreign systems Ripley conducted numerous interviews of educators, parents, officials, and others connected to the school system. But her primary entry point was through the experiences of three American exchange students, who got to experience firsthand the differences in education.

From Oklahoma to Finland

Kim, a Sallisaw native whose year as an exchange student in Finland was chronicled in the book

One of those students was Kim, who traveled from Sallisaw, Oklahoma at age 15 to spend the 2010-2011 school year in Finland. Kim had long felt out of place in Sallisaw. She was a curious and intelligent girl who didn’t share most of her classmates’ and teachers’ enthusiasm for football. Her urge to experience something else was so strong that she funded her trip to Finland in part by selling beef jerky and Rice Krispies Treats door-to-door.

Finland is not exactly what she expects. Despite its reputation as being the best school system in the world, she finds simple no-frills classrooms. There were no high-tech whiteboards or other gadgets that have become common in American schools. Students also have plenty of free time and independence. There were no regularly scheduled parent-teacher conferences. A teacher would just meet with a student to resolve problems rather than bringing in the parents. And the students behave like normal teenagers in Oklahoma, with one big difference. They all, without very few exceptions, took school seriously.

 Teachers in Finland were also given more independence and respect. They were paid better, had strong union protections, and they didn’t face the strict curriculum standards or test-based accountability that have swept through American schools in recent years. They also faced a much higher bar to Two Takes: The Smartest Kids in the World:

US Sen. Baldwin (WI) & GA Leader Abrams Join DPE As Co-Chairs - Democrats For Public Education

US Sen. Baldwin (WI) & GA Leader Abrams Join DPE As Co-Chairs - Democrats For Public Education:

US Sen. Baldwin (WI) & GA Leader Abrams Join DPE As Co-Chairs

 DPE Momentum & Support Continues To Grow

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Today, Democrats For Public Education (DPE) announced U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (WI) and Georgia Assembly House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams as the latest co-chairs to join the newly-launched organization. DPE is a 527 formed to show that Democrats remain united around a core set of principles to ensure public education thrives for generations to come.

The announcement of Senator Baldwin and Leader Abrams as the latest co-chairs to come aboard shows the continued momentum and support DPE has enjoyed since officially launching last Tuesday, August 19th. Moreover, several hundred elected officials, party leaders and activists at all levels of government, from communities coast-to-coast and states in between have already signed up as supporters at www.DemocratsForPublicEducation.com.

“I have spent my career in public service working to invest in education, because we know that strong public schools can help us build a strong middle-class in America,” said U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). “I’m proud to join a coalition that is committed to giving a voice to the importance of high-quality public education and our shared responsibility to work together to lift every child up to their dreams.”

“As Democrats, we understand that a good education is the greatest predictor of economic success and a key to breaking the cycles of poverty,” said Georgia General Assembly House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams. “Together, we can lift up public education in America. I am proud to be part of a diverse coalition dedicated to ensuring the next generation has access to a first-rate education and the tools to drive our economy forward.”

The latest round of DPE co-chairs joins those already announced last week, including:

• Governor Jennifer Granholm (MI)
• Governor Ted Strickland (OH)
• Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH)
• Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI)
• Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA)
• State Superintendent Denise Juneau (MT)
• Donna Brazile – Democratic Strategist & DNC Vice-Chair

Democrats For Public Education will lift up public education in America. The goal is to show broad-based support around a core set of principles, which includes:

• Fulfilling our collective obligation to help all children succeed;
• Fighting for neighborhood public schools that are safe, welcoming places for teaching and learning;
• Ensuring that teachers and school staff are well-prepared, are supported, have small class sizes, and have time to collaborate to meet the individual needs of every child;
• Guaranteeing that all children have an engaging curriculum that includes art, music and physical education;
• Providing children access to wrap-around services to meet their emotional, social and health needs;
• Working to provide school districts – particularly those serving the highest concentration of students in need of extra services and support – with the resources required to provide all students with a world-class education; and
• Making it clear that public education – for all children – is both an economic necessity and a fundamental civil right.

You can follow Democrats for Public Education on Twitter (@Dems4PublicEd) and on Facebook (Facebook.com/DemsforPublicEd).

For Immediate Release: Thursday, August 28th, 2014
Contact: Joshua Henne, 732-407-5938

Americans' Satisfaction With Education System Increases:

Americans' Satisfaction With Education System Increases

In 2014, 48% of Americans are satisfied with the quality of K-12 education

by Rebecca Riffkin

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As students return to school in the U.S., 48% of Americans are "completely" or "somewhat satisfied" with the quality of kindergarten through high school education in the country, the highest Gallup has measured since 2004. For the first time since 2007, Americans are now about as likely to say they are satisfied as dissatisfied.

Gallup has asked U.S. adults about their satisfaction with education since 1999, including each August since 2001, as part of its annual Work and Education poll. The high of 53% satisfaction was reached in 2004, the only year more Americans were satisfied with education than dissatisfied. Americans were most negative about the state of education in 2000, when education was a major presidential campaign issue and more than six in 10 said they were dissatisfied.

Satisfaction has largely been stable in recent years, ranging from 43% to 46% from 2005-2013. However, satisfaction ticked up this year, and is now similar to what was seen in the early 2000s.

Americans who have children in grades K-12 are generally more satisfied than U.S. adults as a whole. A majority of these parents (57%) are satisfied with education in the country. Parents may be basing their evaluations at least partly on their own child's education, not just on what they hear in the news.

Three in Four Parents Are Satisfied With Their Child's Education

Parents' tendency to be more positive than the general public about education is vividly evident when Gallup asks parents with a child in grades K-12 about their satisfaction with their own child's education. Three in four parents say they are satisfied with the quality of education their oldest child is receiving in 2014, significantly higher than the 48% of Americans who are satisfied with U.S. K-12 education in general.

The 75% of parents who are satisfied with their own child's education is consistent with what Gallup has measured in prior years, although satisfaction was a bit lower last year, at 67%.

Implications

For as long as Gallup has measured it, U.S. parents of school-aged children are more likely to be satisfied with the quality of their child's education than Americans are with the quality of education in the country. Most parents are satisfied with their child's education, while historically the majority of Americans have been dissatisfied with the quality of U.S. education. This long-evident "optimism gap" may result from Americans focusing on press reports of inadequate schooling in problem school districts when they are asked about education nationally, but focusing on what they perceive as a much more positive local situation when asked about the education of their own children.

Survey Methods

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Aug. 7-10, 2014, a random sample of 1,032 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

For results based on the sample of 221 parents with children in kindergarten through grade 12, the margin of sampling error is ±9 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

Interviews are conducted with respondents on landline telephones and cellular phones, with interviews conducted in Spanish for respondents who are primarily Spanish-speaking. Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 50% cellphone respondents and 50% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods. Landline respondents are chosen at random within each household on the basis of which member had the most recent birthday.

Samples are weighted to correct for unequal selection probability, nonresponse, and double coverage of landline and cell users in the two sampling frames. They are also weighted to match the national demographics of gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education, region, population density, and phone status (cellphone only/landline only/both, and cellphone mostly). Demographic weighting targets are based on the most recent Current Population Survey figures for the aged 18 and older U.S. population. Phone status targets are based on the most recent National Health Interview Survey. Population density targets are based on the most recent U.S. census. All reported margins of sampling error include the computed design effects for weighting.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

View survey methodology, complete question responses, and trends.

For more details on Gallup's polling methodology, visit www.gallup.com.

The attack on bad teacher tenure laws is actually an attack on black professionals - The Washington Post

The attack on bad teacher tenure laws is actually an attack on black professionals - The Washington Post:



The attack on bad teacher tenure laws is actually an attack on black professionals

By Andre M. Perry August 28 at 6:00 AM 

Dr. Andre Perry is the founding dean of urban education at Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Mich. He is the author of The Garden Path: The Miseducation of a City.

After the Vergara v. California decision in California’s state Supreme Court, which held that key job protections for teachers are unconstitutional, anti-union advocates everywhere began spawning copycat lawsuits. But while reformers may genuinely want to fix education for everyone, their efforts will only worsen diversity in the teaching corps. The truth is that an attack on bad teacher tenure laws (and ineffective teachers in general) is actually an attack on black professionals. If theVergara clones succeed, black children will lose effective teachers and the black community will lose even more middle-class jobs.

Black workers are most likely to hold public sector union jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, among the major ethnic groups, blacks (13.6 percent) represent the highest percentage of union members among the total number of workers (whites are 11 percent; Asians are 9.4 percent; and Hispanics are 9.4 percent), and the highest unionization rates among all professions were in the education services occupations (35.3 percent). In 26 of the 48 jurisdictions (states plus the District of Columbia) where at least some black and some white teachers are covered by collective bargaining agreements, blacks are more likely to be covered by agreements than whites. This is the case in California, where the Vergara decision originated. Blacks are more likely to teach in urban areas in many states, and so are more likely to be covered by collective bargaining. Therefore, black teachers have much at stake in the Vergara decision.

AN ATTACK ON BAD TEACHER TENURE LAWS IS ACTUALLY AN ATTACK ON BLACK PROFESSIONALS

Blacks consistently are paid less than their peers in unprotected jobs. In the same 2013 report, BLS found that union members had median weekly earnings of $950, while those who were nonunion full-time and salary The attack on bad teacher tenure laws is actually an attack on black professionals - The Washington Post:

IN THE NEWS: DEASY SUSPENDS iPAD PROGRAM Schoolhouse Live

Schoolhouse Live:

IN THE NEWS: 
DEASY SUSPENDS iPAD PROGRAM

Besieged Los Angeles Unified Superintendent John Deasy suspends iPad program after emails reveal his negotiations with Pearson and Apple prior to the bidding process.  Read about it here, and check out the infographic below.

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 8-28-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:

iPadGate: ARE JOHN DEASY’S DAYS NUMBERED? They should be after cozy iPad deal

Opinion By Ted Rall, LA Times Editorial Cartoonist | http://lat.ms/1wI7HOh Aug  27, 3:38 PM  ::  It sounded like a great idea at the time: L.A. would give students a boost into the 21st century by putting tech directly into their hands. The Los Angeles Unified School District would buy an Apple iPad for every student,  more than 600,000,  each loaded with educational software supplied by

by smf / 15min 

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 8-27-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: REV. JESSE JACKSON SWEARS IN LAUSD BOARD MEMBER GEORGE McKENNABy Thomas Himes, Los Angeles Daily News | http://bit.ly/1qgWq1d George McKenna 8/26/14, 5:25 PM PDT  ::  The Rev. Jesse Jackson swore in Los Angeles Unified’s newest school board member in a ceremony at Tuesday’s meeting. George McKenna, a veteran educator who has held high-ranking positions

by mike simpson / 22min 

UPDATE: WTF? Holyoke Superintendent Dr. Sergio Paez Hands Out Trespassing Notice to President of the Holyoke Teachers Association - CNN iReport

Holyoke Superintendent Dr. Sergio Paez Hands Out Trespassing Notice to President of the Holyoke Teachers Association - CNN iReport:

Holyoke Superintendent Dr. Sergio Paez Hands Out Trespassing Notice to President of the Holyoke Teachers Association

By busyboypro  |  Posted August 26, 2014  |  District of Columbia

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Agustin  Morales III, President of the Holyoke Teachers Association, was issued a  trespassing notice by the school department, which was ordered and  signed by Superintendent Dr. Sergio Paez. They, the administration, have  been trying to silence Morales since he started criticizing them about  certain practices taking place in the Holyoke Public Schools. He mostly  spoke to the detrimental effects of data walls and the morale-busting  climate of high-stakes testing.

Speaking out did not seem enough for Morales and he looked to pursuits  that would allow him to affect change on a much broader scale. In April  he decided he would run for president of his local union and won by an  overwhelming majority vote. Morales was welcoming new teachers this past  Thursday and Friday at one of the Holyoke schools and introducing  himself to them during their New Teacher Orientation. He was letting  them know that he is the President of their union and if they ever need  anything that he is available anytime. It didn’t make sense that in that  time frame, Dr. Paez would be filing a Trespass Notice.

They thought non-renewal of his teaching contract and the subsequent  trespass notice would quite him; but it didn't work. It seems to only  have further strengthened Morales’s resolve to continue fighting for the  city he grew up in. These kinds of actions luckily just bring more  attention to the fact that change is needed and corporate school reform  is not the answer. Paez is a strong supporter of the Bill and Melinda  Gates Foundation which is a supporter of making all schools part of  their corporate reform.

Morales works in one of the most impoverished districts in Massachusetts  where some schools have a free/reduced lunch rate above 90%. He works  with a predominantly Hispanic population (almost 80%) of which most are  Puerto Rican. Morales is also Puerto Rican. He is a native of Holyoke.  He graduated from Holyoke Public Schools. From all accounts Morales is  Holyoke Superintendent Dr. Sergio Paez Hands Out Trespassing Notice to President of the Holyoke Teachers Association - CNN iReport:

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Holyoke School Superintendent Sergio Paez issues and then lifts no trespassing order against union president Gus Morales

President-elect of Holyoke teachers union laid off, claims retaliation for criticizing educational reform; protest planned for school committee meeting

President-elect of Holyoke teachers union laid off, claims retaliation for criticizing educational reform; protest planned for school committee meeting | masslive.com

President-elect of Holyoke teachers union laid off, claims retaliation for criticizing educational reform; protest planned for school committee meeting | masslive.com: President-elect of Holyoke teachers union laid off, claims retaliation for criticizing educational reform; protest planned for school committee meetingAgustin Morales, a teacher whose contract was not renewed at Maurice A. Donahue S

by mike simpson / 1h